Friday, July 4, 2008

Don’t be an egghead


On any given day, the Wood River Valley is full of smart people, but a lot of them are acting really stupid in public.

They are the Humpty Dumpty eggheads without helmets riding bicycles, Rollerblading or skateboarding.

Apparently, it hasn't occurred to them that they can sustain serious brain injuries if their craniums smash into an asphalt bike trail or into a moving car. Even if cyclists are traveling slowly at 10 mph or so, the laws of physics mean they will get more than a little tap on the noggin.

People who wouldn't think of driving a car without a seatbelt willingly set out bicycling on busy bike paths or streets without the smallest defense between them and disaster. When deciding between feeling the wind riffling through their hair on a fine summer day and getting helmet-hair, they decide against the helmet.

In Idaho, some misguided adults think they are expressing their independence by refusing to wear helmets on bicycles or motorcycles. State law does not require helmets. But this kind of independence can be costly to families and to society.

Statistics compiled by the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute show that 1 in 8 of cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury. In 2006 alone, brain injured cyclists totaled 67,000. The institute estimates that a helmet can prevent between 45 and 88 percent of brain injuries.

A cheap helmet could cut the estimated $81 million in direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets as well as the estimated $2.3 billion in indirect costs.

There is no lack of helmets to be had in this valley at bike or thrift shops.

So, don't be an egghead. Wear a helmet.




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